Terror Victims Group Opposes Shalit Swap

The chairman of the Almagor Terror Victims Association, Meir Eindor, lashed out strongly yesterday against the campaign to release captive soldier Gilad Shalit.

"The newspapers know our prime minister is squeezable, so they squeeze," he told Haaretz. "Believe me, if the prime minister releases terrorists with blood on their hands, he'll get attacked by those same newspapers."

"We at Almagor are completely stunned, completely helpless... before this bratty campaign launched by the Israeli media," he continued.

Shalit supporters marked the fourth anniversary of the IDF soldier's abduction as well as the death of two other IDF soldiers who were killed in the June 25 cross-border raid.

Eindor said that while his organization was fully sympathetic to the distress of the captive soldier and his family, it is principally opposed to releasing terrorists.

"Imagine a situation whereby a woman who was raped is told the rapist will be released from jail without serving his time. How would she feel? Bereaved parents who have lost their loved ones to a terrorist attack [and in which the perpetrators have been jailed] are always consoled knowing that their loved one was the last victim," he argued.

"Once this many murderers walk free again, the attacks will start again - and these parents will be left not only without their loved one, but without that comfort."

Yossi Mendelevitch, whose 13-year-old son Yuval was killed in a suicide bombing in Haifa in 2003, said: "We know exactly what terrorists we're talking about here... Some of the thousands of people marching for Shalit next week, god forbid, could be hurt in the attacks these terrorists will carry out if they are released."

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